Tampa Bay Buccaneers share their blueprint on how women can reach the NFL as coaches

Lori Locust was one of these women once – a coach trying to reach the dream of working for an NFL team.

Now she's an inspiration for the nearly 40 women whose heads nodded and faces beamed during some face time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant defensive line coach last Wednesday. 

“I can see myself in a lot of the women that were on the call,” Locust told USA TODAY Sports. “I sat where they sat.”

The opening session of the Buccaneers’ “Women's Summit for Careers in Football," one of six events Tampa Bay will host specifically for women between this month and March 2022, featured head coach Bruce Arians, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Locust, all of whom dispensed advice on how to make it as a coach at the game’s highest level.

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